


The Arrival of Prongslet

by fanpirex (Kingsy)



Series: Tales of a Teenage Witch [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Advice, Baby Harry, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Healer Hermione, Nervous Sirius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8098726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingsy/pseuds/fanpirex
Summary: Lily goes into labour, James is a mess and Sirius finds himself spending some quiet moments with a certain bushy-haired healer at St. Mungo’s.To see the banner for this ficlet, go here.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The birth of a child is both wonderful and stressful. Even if it's not your child apparently.

“I’m gonna be a dad, _a dad_ ,” James babbled as he sat beside his wife, her hand clutching his painfully.

“Shut up, you bastard,” Lily snapped and squeezed her eyes shut when another contraction hit her.

Remus put a hand on James’ shoulder. “Mate, I think if you keep talking you’ll be dead before the baby’s born.”

James looked up at him, his eyes suddenly glassy. “The baby’s gonna be born soon. Moony, my son is gonna be here soon!”

“Oh god, chuck him out,” Lily groaned, her teeth gritted.

Remus chuckled and left the married pair to themselves to find his other friend. The soon-to-be godfather was staring blankly into space as healers and patients’ loved ones rushed around him in the busy St. Mungo’s waiting room.

“You all right, Padfoot?” Remus watched him closely.

Sirius nodded dumbly.

The werewolf waited.

After a few moments, Sirius spoke. “Little Prongslet will be here soon.” His voice cracked.

Remus laughed. “Merlin, you sound like James.”

“James. How’s James?” Sirius asked, as if his best friend was the one in labour.

“He’s… going through some things,” Remus smiled, amused.

Sirius nodded faintly.

The werewolf studied him and then asked softly in deeper concern, “You sure you’re okay, Sirius?”

The black haired man stood up swiftly. “Yup. Never better. I’ve just got to, uh, take a walk.” He turned sharply on his heel and wandered away, leaving Remus behind him to wait alone.

The werewolf sighed, knowing his friend wasn’t fine at all. But he knew not to badger him about it and decided to leave him be, instead accessing the hospital Floo network to hurry Peter into getting here already.

* * *

Hermione was on her last shift of the day and definitely feeling exhaustion weigh down on her. She’d had to deal with a lot of fussy patients today, so watching the clock creep ever closer to two o’clock was glorious.

Just as she glanced up from her latest patient clipboard, a man with shaggy black hair walked past her in a daze. Her ward had been nearly empty for roughly an hour now, so she observed him curiously.

The young man was perhaps a year or two younger than her and was rather handsome, she noted. He seemed to be lost in thought, his brows furrowed above grey eyes. Leaning against a wall, he slid down it until he sat on the squeaky floor. He put his head to his knees and seemed to close his eyes tiredly.

With some concern, she watched him simply sit there for several minutes. Eventually, she signed her paperwork and left it for the medi-witch to deal with before going over to him.

He didn’t notice her standing there until she spoke. “Everything all right, sir?”

Slowly his head propped up and he glanced at her, surprise flashing across his face when he realised she was talking to him. He nodded wordlessly and she sighed.

Debating for a moment, she perched herself beside him on the floor. He gazed at her in bewilderment. She smiled warmly at him. “What’s your name?”

After a second, he cleared his throat. “Sirius.”

“Sirius Black?” she inquired, her brown eyes widened slightly.

He looked at her suspiciously and she understood why; there was a war brewing after all. But he must have decided she was harmless because he then hummed in agreement.

“I was a couple years above you in Hogwarts,” she explained, smiling, and held out her hand. “Hermione Granger.”

He shook it quietly. “Hi.”

Feeling a tad awkward, she glanced around before turning back to him. “So, why you here?”

“Best mate’s having a baby.”

“Ah,” she nodded, “I see. Why you down here then? This isn’t the maternity ward.”

He shook his head. “It’s less busy here… I could breathe easier.”

She studied him, her mind working furiously to understand the situation in front of her. “And you’re feeling overwhelmed,” she guessed.

He looked at her, shocked. “Well…”

She narrowed her eyes speculatively. “Do you think a baby is going to change your friendship with James? It is James, I assume—I heard he got married not long ago.”

“Yeah, it’s James,” he replied slowly. “And no, that’s not what I’m worried about.”

She cocked her head at him. “Then what’s wrong?”

Sirius looked at her intently. She had bushy brown hair and sharp brown eyes like she knew all about him. He tried to place her from Hogwarts but found himself at a loss. She must not have been very note-worthy if he couldn’t remember her at all. She wasn’t terrible looking, but certainly not a beauty queen, so he understood why she didn’t leave an impression on him.

But despite all that, despite having only just met her, he felt like he could trust her. She had a very open nature about her which he admired. She had brought him out of his slump and worried whether he was all right, even though they were strangers.

So he told her what had been plaguing his mind since James frantically Floo-called him, saying Lily’s water had broken.

“They want me to be godfather,” he revealed. “And I love them for trusting me enough, really I do, but… I’m not ready to be a godfather. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.”

She watched him silently and he appreciated that she didn’t call him a coward. It seemed she was waiting for him to continue. His shoulders slumped and he titled his head back against the wall behind him, taking a few deep breaths.

“I won’t be good at it,” he confided quietly. “I know I won’t be. I’ll never be good enough for that boy. I never wanted to be a father; I’m too screwed up for that. How will this be any different?”

“Because it won’t be your child,” she reminded kindly. “You’ll be the uncle figure that flits in and out of the baby’s life. While he screams at his parents and makes them lose sleep, you get to be the favourite, the one that spoils him, _and_ you get to avoid smelly nappies and hungry bellies.”

He chuckled weakly. “I guess.”

“Well… do you love the baby?” she asked and he looked at her in slight surprise.

“Of course!”

“Then you’ll be fine,” she smiled softly. “I bet that in ten years, that child will be the centre of your life and you’d do anything for him. That kind of dedication and devotion doesn’t equate with bad parenting—even god-parenting.”

Sirius studied his hands. She watched him in silence before reaching over to put her hand on his knee.

“I heard you moved in with James’ family several years ago and yours disowned you…” she trailed off. He glanced up cautiously and she realised that _this_ was the crux of his troubles. “Your family wasn’t the best. If you could have parents like that and still turn out— _pretty_ good,” she allowed and a smile touched his lips, “then I’m sure the baby will be perfect with you as a godfather.”

“But…”

“You won’t screw up,” she promised.

“How do you know that?” He looked desperate for reassurance.

“Because I know you’re a good person who doesn’t give up. And you’ll make a wonderful godfather. Everyone makes mistakes; that’s life. You learn from them and move on. The boy will be just fine.”

He gazed at her for a long while before nodding absently. The two settled into another silence and she was pleased to note that his shoulders had stopped tensing. It was perhaps another five or ten minutes until either moved.

Hermione glanced at the clock and saw a new patient entering her ward. She looked over to Sirius. “Well then, you’re likely being missed. You better head back to the maternity ward.”

“I thought labour took hours,” he blinked.

She nodded. “Can do. But James probably needs calming down.”

“Don’t you mean Lily?”

She laughed. “No.”

He laughed too, feeling much lighter than he had earlier. Pulling himself up, he offered a hand to her and helped her stand. He hesitated before leaving; their eyes locked.

“Thank you,” he told her in a low, sincere voice.

She smiled. “You’re welcome. Now off with you.”

* * *

“What d’ya think, Padfoot?” James asked softly, dazed like all new fathers.

Sirius couldn’t take his eyes away from the bundle of blankets cradled so very carefully in his friend’s arms. “He’s perfect, Prongs.”

“Wanna hold him?”

“What?” his eyes now shot to James, who laughed quietly to avoid waking his new-born son.

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

Sirius hesitated. “I dunno, Jamie, I don’t think I’m qualified to hold him right.”

“Qualified?” James snorted. “And you think I am?

“Yeah, but…” the estranged Black shrugged. “You’re his father.”

“And you’re his godfather.”

The new dad watched his best friend shift with discomfort, needlessly worrying as he stared at baby Harry. Eventually, James sighed.

“Come on, Pads, just hold out your arms and I’ll help you cradle him.”

“What if I drop him?” Sirius asked quickly, but James was already manoeuvring the baby into his arms. And in spite of all his worries, Sirius held him like it was natural, like he was born to do just that. He barely needed his friend’s help at all.

James smiled at him wryly. “You won’t,” he promised and let the new godfather hold Harry without any other support.

Sirius studied his charge in awe, taking note of each little toe and each little finger that curled inwards, both chubby cheeks and both pouted pink lips. He was magnificent. Little eyelashes fluttered apart to reveal stunning green eyes that he knew would darken soon enough to match Lily’s emerald gaze.

Sirius felt another pair of eyes watching him from afar and had a strong feeling that they belonged to a certain clever brunette witch. He smiled down at his godson.

“Hello, Prongslet. Welcome home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I've recently started a Tumblr for news and ideas about all of my stories, existing and yet-to-be-written. **Feedback would be fantastic!** So if you want to interact with me more and have input on future decisions regarding my stories then head over to <http://fanpirex.tumblr.com>.
> 
> I look forward to possibly hearing from any of you! There's a lot of story-related thoughts that go through my head and loads of partially written stories still unpublished that I've never mentioned to you guys before, but I'd like to be more open about it all :]
> 
> Thank you for reading my rambles, even if you don't wanna join in, and have a brilliant day!


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